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Boulder 7-year-old awarded for quick thinking during fire

By Amy Bounds Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
12/17/2012 10:20:41 PM MST

Updated:
12/17/2012 10:21:19 PM MST

Seven-year-old Lily Longley didn't hesitate when a man banged on the door of her family's townhouse in south Boulder in mid-November, yelling to "get out" because there was a fire in a neighboring unit.

She collected her 4-year-old sister and walked with her down the street to the family meeting place, where she waited for her parents and her 1-year-old brother.

Her calm and quick reaction will earn her recognition at Tuesday's Boulder City Council meeting, where Mayor Matt Appelbaum and Fire Chief Larry Donner plan to give her an award. An award ceremony also is planned Wednesday at her school, Bear Creek Elementary.

"She was just all calm, cool and collected," said Boulder police spokeswoman Kim Kobel. "She really did the right thing."

A few weeks before the fire, Lily heard a presentation from the fire department at her school that was part of the department's education program. Her homework was to draw a picture of a family meeting place that could be used if there's a fire.

Her mom, Katy Longley, said she was downstairs doing laundry around 5 p.m. Nov. 18 when the fire started. In the time it took her to grab her son and a coat and her husband to grab their "fire box" of important papers, she said, her girls were out and waiting for them at their agreed-upon location.

"I was amazed," Katy Longley said. "The kids were out before the grownups. We didn't even need to holler for them."

The fire, in the 4600 block of Greenbriar Boulevard, was extinguished quickly. No one was hurt.

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